


It Ain't Me You're Lookin' For

by psiten



Series: SASO 2016 Fills [15]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Advice From Sempai, Fluff, Gen, If you want to read it as slash there's a little implication you can work with, Kageyama is Extra, Oikawa Works Hard, Oikawa is a Closet Nerd, Post-Series, Third Years At College, We're Talking About Actual Advice - This is Not a Metaphor for Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 08:18:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13186089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psiten/pseuds/psiten
Summary: Original Prompt: a screencap of Oikawa from the anime with the subtitle, "His favorite saying is, 'If you're going to hit it, hit it until it breaks.'"The unmistakable wiry frame of his genius successor was standing right inside the door."We found this kid on the front steps. He begged to be let in to see you like he was in some samurai drama.In Which Kageyama needs advice, and Oikawa is the only one who can give it to him.





	It Ain't Me You're Lookin' For

     Someone knocked on Oikawa's door at University, so he slipped off his glasses and pushed his literature homework under his jacket. It was too early in the term to get a reputation as a nerd. His fans would be so disappointed! But he'd worked his ass off to make it into a university good enough that it didn't feel like settling for what he could get, and he knew he'd have to keep working his ass off to get grades he'd be satisfied with. That was life when you weren't naturally gifted with anything but a charming smile and ridiculously good looks.

     Ruffling his hair like he'd been spending Sunday sleeping in, Oikawa opened the door and flashed said charming smile at Mamoru, from the other end of the hall.

     "Mamo-chan! What can I do you for?"

     His dormmate, who'd already gotten tired of reminding Oikawa that he wasn't a character on Sailor Moon, rolled his eyes and pointed at the entrance to the hall. The unmistakable wiry frame of his genius successor was standing right inside the door.

     "We found this kid on the front steps. He begged to be let in to see you like he was in some samurai drama."

     "Well if it isn't Tobio-chan!" Oikawa chuckled. "I wonder what he wants this time?"

     Mamo-chan walked toward his own dorm room. "Not my problem. But if you expect him to keep coming back, give him your phone number or something, okay?"

     "Yeah, yeah."

     He wasn't going to give Tobio-chan his number. If he did that, his adorable underclassman would start calling him every time he couldn't figure out how to not be an idiot, and would never learn to get by on his own. That wouldn't be any good! Tobio-chan was an idiot _a lot_. Geniuses always were. It was like they thought everything should be easy.

     Oikawa took his sweet time sauntering down the hall, sizing up his visitor. Tobio-chan gulped, like a tiny fish wondering if he was about to get fried. Then, as soon as Oikawa was within a conversational distance, the high schooler bowed straight down from the waist, back as straight as a pole. As expected, he was here for advice. Well, Oikawa had to respect that Tobio-chan had come to _him_ for that advice one more time, because it meant he wanted the hard truth. They both knew Oikawa wasn't going to give him anything else.

     "Please, Oikawa-san..."

     "Uh-uh!" he answered, shaking a finger. When Tobio-chan looked up, he pointed to the floor. "You interrupted me while I was working. Get on your knees, Tobio-chan." He could see the hint of a, "But..." forming in the boy's mouth, and shook his head. Without any further argument, the Karasuno student knelt on the floor, knees folded underneath him, face pressed to the floor in a pose of ultimate submission. Oikawa could hear doors clicking open behind him to see what the hell was going on, and at least one person poking his head out of the bathroom with his toothbrush still in his mouth. He hoped they liked what they saw, because he wasn't going to back down over a couple witnesses. This was between him and Tobio-chan.

     "Okay. Now you may speak."

     "Oikawa-san. Please tell me how to not be the one that breaks."

     "What's that, now?"

     The kid raised his head. "You would always say, _hit it until it breaks_. The seniors are gone now, and I want to be that strong," Tobio-chan said, as foolishly straightforward and greedy as always. "So I want to know how you always managed to keep going, until the walls in front of you broke. How did you know it wasn't you who'd break?"

     "I didn't," Oikawa murmured.

     "What did you say?"

     He cleared his throat, thinking of busted knees and ankles, jammed fingers, sprained wrists, nights when he had to hold back tears so his family wouldn't hear him worrying if he'd never be more than he was. This time, he said it louder. "I never knew. And neither will you."

     "Huh? But..."

     "Come with me, Tobio-chan!"

     Oikawa turned on his heel, abandoning his audience in the hall and expecting his little puppy to follow along. He did, of course. Tobio-chan followed Oikawa right into his room, as trusting as always, and shut the door behind him as Oikawa slid his glasses onto his nose.

     All the little details of Tobio-chan's face came into focus. What had just been a mouth before was now a mouth pinched tight enough that it quivered the slightest bit. Little blueberry eyes sharpened enough that Oikawa could see the fear in them. "There," Oikawa said. "I wanted to see your face, because I'm only going to say this once." He pushed up on Tobio-chan's chin so the kid couldn't avoid looking him in the eye. "Do you really think you can break something without knowing how it feels to be broken? If you've never hit your own breaking point, then you haven't had to do anything that didn't come naturally to you."

     "But--" He saw defiance, confusion, and fear underneath it all because no one knew better than Tobio-chan that Oikawa wouldn't tell him anything but the truth.

     "That wasn't a question, Tobio-chan. You're going to break. That's the only way you'll ever outgrow your shell. Because if you think that whatever you're fighting to overcome hasn't been yourself all along, you're more of an idiot than I thought you were. Got it?"

     His little mouth drew tight and beakish, and he nodded.

     "Good. Now you can get out of my dorm room. You've got a long train ride back to Miyagi."

     Instead of leaving, though, Tobio-chan rushed him, socking him in the chest with a hug so fast and tight, Oikawa felt all the breath rush out of his lungs. But he could stay cool. He had to stay cool. Breathe back in slowly, no coughing... Not in front of Tobio-chan. Who was clinging to his chest in the standard, uncool Tobio-chan way that made Oikawa so embarrassed on his behalf, but even he had to admit it was kind of cute.

     "Thank you, Oikawa-san."

     "If this is you confessing your love for me in the hopes that I go easy on you next time, you know it's not going to work, right?"

     Tobio-chan jumped back into attention, even offering him a damned salute. "I understand! I would never expect you to! Excuse me!" And blushing red as a beet, the high-school division's new number one setter ran into the hallway. Oikawa could hear his footsteps beating a path all the way to the exit.

     As he combed his fingers through his hair, Oikawa wondered if he'd ever understand what that had really been about. Or maybe he'd have to break his own heart before he got it.


End file.
